Lost in the state budget impasse is the status of negotiations between Republican governor Bruce Rauner and public employee unions in Illinois. A University of Illinois labor economist discusses the negotiations with Illinois Public Media's Brian Moline.

Marja Mills met Nelle Harper Lee while on assignment for the Chicago Tribune. She later moved next door to Lee and her sister Alice Finch Lee for several months and has published a memoir about her friendship with the famous author called The Mockingbird Next Door. Mills gives her take on the new book from Lee and shares memories of the famously private author.

Conditions in the Iroquois County city look a bit like they were in January 2008, when about 1,500 residents were forced from their homes. The Iroquois River was about 6.5 feet above flood stage as of Sunday.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office has filed an emergency appeal with the Illinois Supreme Court to settle conflicting court orders about whether state employees can be paid during the budget impasse.

Even as Gov. Bruce Rauner pushes for legislators to authorize a new way of drawing the state’s political map, a citizen-driven initiative is underway. As part of the bargain Rauner is trying to make with Democrats, he wants the legislature to agree to give up control for drawing district boundaries.

Eighty-five years after Pluto was discovered by an astronomer from Illinois – the New Horizons spacecraft will fly by Pluto and show us what this far-off world looks like. David Leake, the head of Staerkel Planetarium, fills us in on what to expect and the Central Illinois connection to Pluto.

The 5th District Appellate Court Friday issued a ruling that upheld the state's rules for the oil and gas drilling technique. The appellate court sided with a Madison County judge, rejecting a challenge from an environmental group.